The invention relates to serviettes which can be folded into a decorative pattern and which can be retained in the decorative pattern for presentation at a table setting and for handling. At the beginning of a meal, the diner releases the retainer which holds the decorative pattern and unfolds the serviette for use during the meal.
Serviettes may be folded into simple decorative patterns which do not require a retainer to hold the pattern for presentation at a table setting. For example, a serviette folded by two or three doublings typically will not require a retainer for presentation at a table setting. The decorative quality of such patterns is minimal. The handling of serviettes folded into such patterns would benefit from the use of a retainer.
Serviettes may be folded into patterns which are self retaining, i.e. a property of the folded pattern itself holds the pattern together. Serviettes folded into such self retaining patterns do not require separate retainers to hold the decorative pattern. However, without a retainer, the repertoire of folded patterns are limited to such self retaining patterns or to patterns otherwise not requiring a retainer for presentation. Also, many self retaining folded patterns require a skill which must be learned by the person folding the serviette. The fastness of the self retaining pattern is a property of the particular pattern and is a matter of degree. Aesthestically desirable patterns may not be self retaining or may not have the desired degree of fastness.
Napkin rings and fasteners are commonly used to retain decorative folding patterns. When folded and retained by a napkin ring or fastener, the serviette may be stored or displayed in a wide variety of patterns which are aesthestically desirable or which facilitate handling, but which could not be used without the napkin ring or fastener. Napkin rings and fasteners are not integrally attached to the serviette which they retain. The enlaceable serviette differs from the combination of a serviette and a napkin ring or fastener because the enlaceable serviette includes an integrally attached tie which serves to retain the folded pattern of the serviette. Rings and fasteners are easily separated from the serviette and lost when the serviette is unfolded and used by the diner or when it is laundered and stored.
Some dining bibs include both a napkin part and an integrally attached tie string. The integrally attached tie string is long enough to encircle the diner's neck in order to secure the position of the napkin part beneath the diner's chin. The bib tie string is attached to the upper edge of the napkin, adjacent to the chin. Also, the tie string is directed by its attachment to the edge of the napkin so as to point away from the napkin and so as to loop around the diner's neck. The tie string of the bib is not used for enlacing and retaining a decorative folding pattern of the napkin part. The length of the tie string, its attachment at the upper edge of the napkin, and the direction of its attachment preclude its effective use as a tie for enlacing and securing a decorative folding pattern of the napkin.